Excessive excitation by neurotransmitters can cause the degeneration and death of neurones. It is believed that this degeneration is in part mediated by the excitotoxic actions of the excitatory amino acids (EAA), glutamate and aspartate, at the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), the alfa-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptor, and the kainate receptor. This excitotoxic action is responsible for the loss of neurones in cerebrovascular disorders such as cerebral ischemia or cerebral infarction resulting from a range of conditions, such as thromboembolic or haemorrhagic stroke, cerebral vasospasm, hypoglycaemia, cardiac arrest, status epilepticus, perinatal asphyxia, anoxia such as from near-drowning, pulmonary surgery and cerebral trauma as well as lathyrism, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases. Compounds capable of blocking excitatory amino acid receptors are therefore considered useful for the treatment of the above disorders and diseases, as well as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), schizophrenia, Parkinsonism, epilepsy, anxiety, pain and drug addiction.